Starlit Sky
by MorningPerson
Summary: What happens in a world where vampires exist, and where they live in Forks...But Edward isn't one of them? Bella the immortal meets Edward the tasty-smelling human. Reviews please!


Starlit Sky

A Twilight Fanfic

Chapter 1 – Starlit Sky

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Twilight or any of the characters thereof; That honor belongs to Stephanie Meyer, who is a genius.

Author's Note: Some characters are different in this: Charlie is now Charlie Cullen, and the vampires use Bella's name, so Carlisle is Dr. Swan, not Dr. Cullen. Please don't bite my head off.

Also, note that a "singer", in this context, is a human who particularly appeals to a specific vampire's taste buds, not one known for their vocal talents.

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I loved being a vampire. I loved the intense clarity allowed by my venom-changed eyes, the intricate beauty of dust motes and snowflakes I'd never noticed as a human delightfully clear now. I loved the feeling of the wind against my sparkling, glass-smooth skin when I ran through the sunlight, though my chances to do that had been scarce in the perpetually overcast town in Washington where my family now lived. I loved the strength and the speed I'd been gifted with. Most of all, I loved my family. The seven of us, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and myself, had rejected our monstrous natures, and constantly strove to avoid taking human life.

I did not love high school. What had been tedious and boring the first time through had not been improved by repetition and improved intelligence. I especially did not love _this_ high school, which had the distinction of being the least interesting I had attended in my decade of life as an eighteen year old. The town of Forks, Washington had nothing to offer me, except it's weather. The constant clouds meant my family and I could go out in the daytime without causing traffic accidents.

_Though_, I reflected, _In a town this small, there probably wouldn't be enough cars to make a proper accident anyway._ I stared at the swirls in the faux-wood cafeteria table at Forks High School, halfway through another mind-numbingly dull day. The conversation of my fellow students certainly did nothing to liven things up, focused as it was on the impending arrival of a new inmate to this paragon of mental gulags. One Edward Cullen, the son of the owner of the one bank in town, was being sent here by his mother, who was remarrying after a messy divorce some thirteen years ago. I had gathered all of this through my unnaturally acute hearing; While I was better at not terrifying the humans than the rest of my family, none of them would presume to gossip with me.

Probably a good thing, too. I had no patience for gossip.

"Bella, look at this. It's disgraceful." My sister Alice glared at the pizza on her tray, in a manner very similar to a doctor eying an infection. "To think that I, who studied in Paris, should have to even look at such a culinary felony? Simply disgraceful."

"Alice, you do realize that we can't eat the revolting stuff anyway?" I teased. During her time in Paris, some French culinary snobbery seemed to have rubbed off.

"Of course I do. It's a question of principles, sister dear."

"And yours are quite ridiculous. This is not exactly L'Ecole Culinare du Paris, after all." Alice started to make a flippant remark, but I didn't hear it.

All of my attention was focused on the overwhelmingly delicious-smelling human who had just walked through the double doors. Venom flooded my mouth, glistening off my suddenly-bared teeth. I rose fluidly, dropping into a hunting crouch before Alice and Emmett, looking shocked, slammed me back into my seat. I struggled, desperately trying to reach the boy who's honey, lilac, and sunshine aroma was driving me mad with thirst.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Alice sounded panicked, a small part of my mind noted. The rest was still attempting to break free from Emmett's unbreakable hold on my shoulder.

"How can you be so calm?" I hissed quietly. "How can you sit there and not move?"

"Bella, nothing happened. That new kid walked in. That's all." Emmett's always-cheerful voice lacked even a hint of humor now. Jasper and Rosalie were bent towards me, and I felt a wave of calm sweep over me. Jasper's unusual talent at work, no doubt.

I was out of air. I inhaled quickly, and the boy's scent smashed into my determination to not be a monster.

"You remember when Carlisle told us about singers? He's mine." I'd have added a despairing curse or two, but my air supply gave out again.

"Oh. What are we going to do?" Rosalie looked at me with sympathy in her flawless golden eyes.

"Come on, Bella. We're going to go see Carlisle. I'll make sure you don't do anything you'll regret later." Jasper offered, looking to Alice for confirmation. Her own supernatural gift would tell her how this plan would turn out. She nodded once, then her eyes closed as she began to probe the future.

"Yes." She said after a moment. "Go. Bella, don't breathe until you're outside." Everyone except me relaxed. Jasper and I stood smoothly, and I stalked off towards the doors, my brother close behind me. As I passed Edward Cullen's seat, I shot him a glare of irrational, blackest rage for being delectable enough to tempt me so disastrously. A glimpse of his shocked, hurt face, emerald-green eyes wide in surprise, and I was through the door, the cool rain washing his burning scent out of my mind.

"Thanks, Jasper. You can go back now. I need to go see Carlisle." My voice, thanks to Jasper, sounded almost normal.

"Are you sure, Bella? Will you be alright?" His leonine face was wrinkled in concern, highlighting the battle scars on his face.

"Yes." And I spun away, walking quickly towards my silver Volvo.

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Being Doctor Swan's adopted daughter (or so the story was) had its perks; I got to skip the hour in a waiting room patients had to endure before seeing a him. This was fortunate, as I probably wouldn't have been able to hold myself together for that long. I strode down the corridors, moving slightly too fast for a normal human. My slightly-unbalanced expression and the fact that I was putting less effort into appearing harmless than usual kept anyone from stopping me until I stood in front of Carlisle's office. A quick sniff informed me that no one was with him, and I shot inside the door, locking it behind me.

"Bella? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" My father's words were joking, but his eyes were wary.

"Well, Carlisle, that depends. I presume you wanted the students to survive?" I snapped at him, too unsettled to be polite.

"What's wrong, Bella? What happened?" His face was as alarmed as my siblings had been, which was impressive. There weren't a lot of things that terrified a vampire.

"I met my singer. It's that new boy, the banker's son."

"It's? As in, he's still breathing?" Terror and alarm were warring with a sort of pride on Carlisle's perfect face now. Didn't he understand that, had my family not been there, Edward's blood would even now be flooding the cafeteria's floor, filling the entire building with it's warm, rich aroma...

Venom flooded my mouth. I shoved my thoughts in a different direction.

"Yes, barely. I almost killed him, Carlisle. Almost exposed us." Why couldn't he see that right now I was a danger to our way of life?

"It's alright, Bella. You didn't, and that's what really matters. Do you think we need to leave town?" Pride was definitely winning out over fear now, though I couldn't figure out why.

"_We_ don't need to do anything. _I_ will be going away for...a while. Two years, at least until he graduates from school. I refuse to uproot the family again because some boy smells unusually appetizing!"

He must have seen my resolve, since he didn't argue. There was pain mixed in with the pride that was previously so evident on his face, but his words were ones of acceptance. It wasn't exactly _calm_ acceptance, but I'd take what I could get.

"Do whatever you need to, Bella. We all trust you to make the best decision for yourself." I hugged him fiercely, then stepped out the door. I managed to keep myself to a human-paced walk, but my eyes burned with tears I could no longer shed. I managed to dodge a nurse who wanted to know what was wrong, and managed to reach my car. Slamming my key into the ignition (there was a slight crack, and a shard of plastic came off, but I ignored it), I sped down the freeway, heading towards the Canadian border.

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The old (but thanks to Rosalie's hobby of playing with engines, extremely well-preserved) Volvo'sgas tank told me when to stop. Specifically, running on fumes and my car's understanding that I would kill it if it failed me at this point, I pulled into a state park roughly thirty miles south of Canada, desperate for a distraction from the loneliness I'd been fighting since last afternoon. For my entire vampire life, I'd been surrounded by a supportive, loving coven – no, we were a family, and tradition be damned – and now, by my own choice, I was alone.

It did not feel pleasant, suffice to say. Flinging myself through the door of my car, I ran full out for the snow-capped peaks I could see glittering in the distance. Flying across the wet ground, my feet only touching down every hundred yards or so, I disappeared into the thick forest, leaving all my troubles behind in a flash of pale skin and flowing clothes.

It took me perhaps thirty minutes to travel the seven miles to a clear, icy mountain lake I'd been to once before, on a hunting trip. I sank to my knees against a thick, moss-covered tree. I could cheerfully have stood motionless by the lakeside for a week, but I hadn't lost my human habits yet...and the moss felt cool and pleasant against my skin. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I settled down to work through my problems.

It took a while.

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Three days later, I rose gracefully from my perch by the lake, brushing some dirt and moss from my jeans (Designer, of course. Alice wouldn't have it any other way). I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and dashed back down the slope to my car.

Sadly, I had not taken in to account the fact that, in this day and age, one cannot simply leave a car in a parking space for three days and expect no one to notice. As I emerged from the trees, I spotted a patrol car with two state police officers in it. One was watching my car, clearly bored out of his skull, and the other was rummaging in a bag on the seat behind him. I stepped up to the car and rapped lightly on the window.

Both cops jumped at the noise, clearly not expecting it. One rolled down his window.

"Ma'am, can we help you?" He sounded as if he couldn't tell if he was annoyed or grateful for the interruption.

"Yes, that's my car you're watching. I appreciate the effort, but it's really not necessary. As you, can see, I'm right here. Not lost in the woods or anything." I tried for Rosalie's patented "blonde bombshell" effect, and by the slightly stunned expression on the man's face, it seemed to be working. _Damn_, I thought, _but immortal beauty comes in handy sometimes._

"Uhh...Right, then. Just be more careful next time. There've been reports of bears around here." I smiled slightly. I couldn't help myself; I'd had grizzly for lunch last week.

"I will, officer. Thanks so much!" I skipped lightly towards my Volvo. As I buckled in –I wasn't going to crash, and it wouldn't matter if I did, but appearances mattered, especially with the fuzz watching- I overheard one of them say:

"You know, Frank, sometimes I can't figure them out."

"Who, teens? That's not exactly unusual." His partner responded, with a touch of irony.

"Yeah, but girls especially. Look at Ms. Swan there, clearly smarter than she was acting. Why act at all?"

"I dunno." The second observed sagely. "Let's go."

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I sped down the highway at ninety miles an hour, listening for the sound of any other cars on the road. Since it was late and on a fairly deserted stretch of road, I made good time back to Forks.

And my family.

Surprising no one, Alice was waiting for me when I exited the garage. We stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes, then she threw herself towards me, arms stretched out for a hug. She kissed me on the cheek several times – A habit she'd acquired in Paris – and disengaged herself.

"Bella."

"Alice." I sounded hesitant, a bit unsure of my welcome.

"The next time you decide to think about something for half a week, at least have the decency to call me. Not knowing which way you'd choose was...agonizing." I detected the pleading note in her voice, and felt a pang of regret.

"I promise." And with that, we walked into the house together. I wasn't sure what would happen at school tomorrow, but I knew two things: That I would not kill Edward, and that he would not interrupt my life in any way.


End file.
